Japan eager to support Sri Lanka in future as well - Minister Yoshimasa

Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, who is in Sri Lanka for a two-day official visit, has stressed the importance of a transparent and comparable debt restructuring process that involves all creditor countries.

In a joint statement issued after holding discussions with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry, the visiting Japanese lawmaker also conveyed his expectations for further progress in the debt restructuring process.

He also welcomed Sri Lanka’s efforts under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement including its anti-corruption measures and transparency in the policy-making process.

Minister Yoshimasa commended Sri Lanka’s efforts on national reconciliation and expressed Japan’s intention to support the island nation’s efforts.

Recalling the speech delivered by former Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayawardena at the San Francisco Peace Treaty Conference in 1951 after the World War II, Minister Yoshimasa said Japan has been working side by side with Sri Lanka since then and is quite eager to support the island nation along the way in the future as well.

Emphasizing the importance of Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean and the fact that the island nation is an important partner in realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”, the Japanese minister spoke of the new plan for FOIP that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in March 2023. He said Japan attaches importance to cooperation with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) which Sri Lanka will chair from October. 

The Japanese foreign minister, noting that his country attaches importance to the universalization and promotion of entry into force of the CTBT (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, welcome Sri Lanka’s move to ratify the Treaty.

Earlier today (July 29), Minister Yoshimasa paid a courtesy call on President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo.

He arrived in Sri Lanka on Friday night (28 July), on a two-day official visit, during which he is expected to have talks on bilateral relations with Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry as well.

The Japanese legislator is accompanied by Murakami Manabu, the Senior Foreign Policy Coordinator; Arima Yutaka, the Director General of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs; Endo Kazuya, the Director General of International Cooperation; and Okano Yukiko, the Deputy Press Secretary from the Japanese Foreign Ministry and a 22-member delegation consisting of officials of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.